THE NEWS-GAZETTE'S TOP 25
Illinois beat writer Scott Richey is in his 10th season as an AP Top 25 voter. Here's how his third regular-season ballot of the 2024-25 season shook out:
Rk., Team Prev.
1. Kansas 2
2. Connecticut 3
3. Auburn 3
4. Gonzaga 4
5. Tennessee 13
6. Marquette 24
7. Kentucky 7
8. Iowa State 10
9. Duke 8
10. Purdue 5
11. Alabama 6
12. Houston 9
13. North Carolina 12
14. BYU 15
15. Wisconsin 18
16. Indiana 16
17. Xavier 19
18. Cincinnati 25
19. Illinois 14
20. Baylor 11
21. Texas A&M 20
22. Arkansas 22
23. Creighton 17
24. Florida NR
25. Memphis NR
Who's upCalling Memphis a well-run program would be stretching the truth to its breaking point. Off-the-court matters have plagued the Tigers throughout Penny Hardaway's tenure as coach. Like this fall where Hardaway fired all of his assistant coaches in September and then had to deal with SMU transfer Tyreek Smith quitting the team, then returning and ultimately leaving before the season started because of an name, image and likeness dispute. On the court, though, Memphis opened this season with quality wins against Missouri, UNLV, Ohio and San Francisco to land on my ballot. They might wind up on several more if they can finish the Maui Invitational as strong as they started it Monday with an overtime win against No. 2 Connecticut.
Who's down
Illinois wasn't the only team to fall out of the AP Top 25 this week. St. John's did the same after losing to both Baylor and Georgia albeit by four combined points. Rutgers losing to Kennesaw State not only sent the Scarlet Knights from No. 24 to out of the poll but also completely off all 62 ballots. Rutgers' place in the Top 25 was almost entirely dependent on the fact they have a pair of future top-five NBA draft picks in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. A single sign of adversity -- i.e. losing at Kennesaw State by two points -- was enough to change the minds of the 38 voters that ranked the Scarlet Knights last week.
Who to watch
"Feast Week," began in earnest Monday with the Maui Invitational and other notable multi-team events. The MTE to keep an eye on is the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas featuring No. 6 Houston, No. 9 Alabama, No. 20 Texas A&M, No. 21 Creighton, Rutgers, San Diego State, Oregon and Notre Dame in a $9 million NIL event. All the games will be streamed on Max, with most also airing on TBS, TNT or truTV. If it goes off without a hitch, which doesn't feel like a 100 percent lock, look for an expanded field in 2025.